Closure for ice-making tubes



March 2, 1937. M. J. BROWN CLOSURE FOR ICE MAKING TJUBES Filed July 6, 1936 BY 4 v I 1 214 8M6 ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to the production of rods or sticks of ice, particularly as made in household electric refrigerators, the rods or sticks being used in place of ice cubes.

It is well known that ordinary ice cubes as made in household refrigerators lack'some desirable characteristics of cleanliness and convenience. To overcome present objections the water and ice should be protected against contaminating substances and odors in the refrigerator. Also, the ice should be transferable from the vessels in which it is frozen, to the receiving vessel, without the necessity of being handled by hands or tongs. Ice cubes are furthermore inconvenient and elu- 5 sive because numerous and slippery.

Several considerations which I have found essential, and which I observe in carrying out the present invention, are as follows:

1 1. The container should be capable of being 20 filled directly from a water tap.

2. The container should be interchangeable in an electric refrigerator with ice cube trays. It must therefore rest in a horizontal position when freezing.

3. The container must be so made as to allow for the expansion of water at the time of freezing. It mustdo so while at the same time preventing the leakage of water.

4. The container must permit of the remova of the ice with moderate melting, and without rough treatment.

In order to produce a round rod of ice according to my inventiornI use a cylindrical container of suitable length. A container nine inches long 5 will show a linear expansion of approximately three quarters of an inch,,and substantially all of it takes place at the time of freezing. with a metal tube, freezing begins at the periphery. The expansive force is transmitted to the liquid core 4 which acts as a hydraulic ram and exerts a powerful pressure on'the ends of the container. It is therefore necessary to make provision so that one end will act as a movable piston in the container. Since the piston is being moved by liquid water 45 rather than by ice, leakage around it is apt to result. Such-leakage cannot be prevented by obvious methods but is entirely avoided by my invention which also fulfills the other important requirements of sanitation and convenience re- 50 ferred to above.

The various features and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

55 Fig.1l is a longitudinal sectional view of a container and closure. embodying the invention; and Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on'line 22 of Fig. 1. v

In the drawing, I is a cylinder, of material such as aluminum, with a closed end 2. 3 is a movable stopper or closure of an elastic or resilient material such as rubber. Its length should be about equal to the linear expansion of the water in the tube when it freezes. ,For example, a tube 9 to 10 inches long should have a stopper of or more length.

The outer face I of the closure 3 is in effect a diaphragm, and the remaining portion of the closure is cylindrical on the outersurface and 'conical or tapered on the inner face, being hollow excepting for the diaphragm 4 just mentioned. In use, the tube is filled full of water in an upright position. The closure is inserted into the open end of the container I with a small wire or similar object between it and the container wall. It is then held in a substantially horizontal position with the wire along the upper edge. The closure is fully inserted, as shown, and'the wire is then withdrawn. Such a, closure is not tight in the sense that a solid one would be. It can be made to slip back and forth easily and yet prevent leakage of liquid. That is because of the hollow construction and the thinness of the diaphragm which assumes a concave or convex position under lateral pressure. y

when the ice begins to freeze and the liquid at the center begins to exert a hydraulic pressure, such pressure is exerted on the diaphragm, or in other words, on the advancing end of the closure. Therefore, the closure is to a considerable extent pulled rather than pushed out of the end of the container. If a solid closure is used, the action is exclusively a pushing action. If

the closure is solid and of a material like rubber,

the pushing tends to compress the inner end of the closure and therefore to increase its lateral pressure against the walls of the container. It therefore tends to bind the closure in position and to detract from its freedom of motion. In an electric refrigerator, with the container in a horizontal position,, freezing proceeds faster on the lower than on the upper wall area. As it continues, the hydraulic pressure of the liquid water is exerted at points above the axis of the container, with a result that the closure tends to bind and finally to upset.

A closure of the kind described is easily upset if pressure is applied with great lack of uniformity. But since the pressure is exerted in effect as a pulling action according to my invention, the

- closure travels ahead of the freezing liquid,

and is for practical purposes prevented from upsetting by the advancing core of ice that forms continuously within it. Continuously during the movement, the closure exerts its normal lateral pressure against the walls of the container so that leakage is avoided, yet without binding.

When the freezing is completed, the closure will be found to be completely out of the container, or nearly so as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l, and supported by the protruding formation of ice. Because of the inner conical shape, it slips off the ice easily. Thereafter the container can be heated slightly with warm water, and the ice can be slipped out into any receiving vessel without being touched by the hands or tools.

The container described above need not be round or of uniform cross-section, but, in order to maintain the seal and thus avoid leakage when the closure is forced outwardly due to expansion of the liquid while the container is in a horizontal position, the opening in the container should have'walls that are parallel on their inner surfaces to the axis of the container. If there is a taper, it should provide for the largest crosssectional area at the open end. Whatever the shape of the cross-section of the opening, the inner wall of the opening should be parallel to the axis of the container and the closure should be made to fit the opening. A tube of uniform circular cross section is a simple form, and about the best. When I speak of the axis of the container, I mean the longitudinal center line of the vessel, whether circular, oval, rectangular or of rounded polygonal form.-

The invention claimed is:

1. In combination with an open-ended contalner in which liquid is to be frozen, the open end of said container having an inner wall parallel to the axis of the containena hollow closure therefor of flexible material having an outer sealing surface to seat within said container ad Jacent the open end thereof to form a slidable fluid-tight seal, and a diaphragm closing the outer end of said closure to form a. surface against which the fluid presses while freezing to cause sliding movement of said closure whereby the seal is maintained while the closure slides axially as the freezing liquid expands in volume.

I 2. In combination with (an open-ended container in which liquid is to be frozen, the open end of said container having an inner wall par-1 allel to the axis of the container, a. hollow closure therefor of flexible material having an outer sealing surface to seat within said container adjacent the open end thereof to form a slidable fluidtight seal, and a diaphragm closing the outer end of said closure to form a surface against which the fluid presses while freezing to cause sliding movement of said closure whereby the seal is maintained while the closure slides axially as the freezing liquid expands in volume, the greater part of said closure inwardly of said diaphragm being hollow and open to the interior of said container, and the inner longitudinal surface of said closure being conical and decreasing in diameter toward said diaphragm, whereby the closure may be readily removed from the frozen ice.

3. An elastic slidable closure for a container in which liquid is to be frozen, comprising a hollow member of flexible material having substantially uniform outside dimensions in planes perpendicular to its axis providing a sealing sur.-' face to seat. within said container to form a slidable fluid-tight seal and a diaphragm closing the outer end thereof to form a surface against which the fluid presses while freezing to cause sliding movement of said closure whereby the seal is maintained while the closure slides axially as the freezing liquid expands in volume.

MORTIMER J. BROWN. 

